semmel-dag

good ol Jokkmokk! this town is really starting to grow on me. never spent time in small town where everyone has basically grown up together and every time you mention anyone's name someone says "oh, that's my relative", or "that's my friend's sister", etc. linguistically, one Swedish phrase that i absorbed in my lessons yesterday was "ursekta mig", which means "excuse me". phew. it's so great to have something to say now when i bump into people at the market and don't have to akwardly mumble or walk away silently. another new thing i learned was this interesting expression which is used only here in northern Sweden, that is basically a inward sucking "shoop" sound which means "yes" or "affirmative". old people tend to do it a lot and i had no idea what it was until now.

so, yesterday was also the beginning of Lent, and Keira's sister Ylva invited me over to his apartment (which is less than a block away) for some movies and to eat semla, or Lent cakes. they are these amazing spongy cakes with a ton of cream on top and almond paste inside. amazing!




the rest of the night was spent drinking lots of coffee, petting their cute dog, talking about Russia and Ylva's many activities in Sami youth organizations, such as the Barents Region Sami Youth Council and other local groups whose purpose is to educate Swedish folks about the Sami and their past and present struggles in preserving their culture/reindeer husbandry. fascinating. i hope to hear more this weekend when they'll be back from taking care of Berghem while their father is gone checking on some reindeer in Norway. now i am off to English camp. shoop!